Change of Heart
by Xavirne
Summary: Yugi and his friends just graduated and are invited to the States for a dueling tournament. What they figure will be just another game turns out to be much more than that. Friendships are made, lives are changed, and a once bitter Kaiba discovers something more meaningful than the title "King of Games" when a new face appears. {Kaiba x OC Set in USA}
1. Chapter 1

_**Disclaimer**: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! or any of the characters, locations, or monsters related to the series. I am merely creating my own spin on how the story would flow and go, if I were magically elected to write it. Do note that any characters not originally from the series are my own._

**_Comments_**_: This story takes place before Yu-Gi-Oh! GX starts. Let's just pretend that never happened, okay? So let's just bump the ages up (Yugi is 18; Kaiba is 20) and begin from there. Think of this is the "next season" of Yu-Gi-Oh!_

**_Critiques_**_: Should you notice I have severely messed something up, please site where I can find the correct information. I did my best to match ages, names, and locations. I want this to be fairly close to the story, but different enough that I can have some creative fun with it. Oh, and I am using the ENGLISH names for the characters, in case you couldn't tell.  
_

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**Yu-Gi-Oh! Gone Stateside**  
CHAPTER ONE: Invitation to the Empire State

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Eyes gazing upward, a small smirk played on his face. The irony of him being there was not lost to those that gleefully stood on stage wielding their newly received diplomas. They weren't his friends and yet, he was still there. Smirk taking a turn for the worse, his eyes shot downward to the boy at his side who proudly cheered his friends on.

"Why cheer for them," his voice as sour as ever.

"Oh, Seto, you really need to lighten up. You were invited after all."

"This is a waste of my time," the taller brunette named Seto hissed. With reluctance, his eyes fell back on the stage and scanned over the short-as-ever male with the strange red, black, and yellow hairdo.

"Still, I need to know what Yugi meant by invitation overseas."

"Uhh, Seto can't you think of anything other than work and competition? At least clap for them! Please?"

With a scoff, Seto turned his head away and that playful smirk came back. "Clap for them? Why they are just average peons. I would clap for them had they succeeded like I. Top of their class while running a multi-billion dollar company. Until then, and only then, would I clap for Yugi and his friends."

At that point the younger male with the wild raven hair just rolled his eyes. There was no convincing Seto otherwise. "Okay, fine. Don't clap," he muttered behind clenched teeth. Being the younger brother to Seto, Mokuba knew better than to argue or push the guy, as it would only piss him off more. The fact that he dragged him to his friend's graduation was already bad enough, why press his luck any further?

Once the caps were sent flying and the ceremony ended, the brothers found their way over to an underpopulated spot to await Yugi and his friends. "This better not be a hoax to get me to come..." his lip rolled in disgust just thinking about such a trap.

"Brother," he nipped, "that's not like Yugi. They wouldn't lie, especially about something that important." Smiling ever so sly, his hazel eyes peeked over at Seto to see the lanky male in a rather delightful mood. Despite being 18, Seto was unusually fond of games, particularly card games that involved holographic monsters. Then again, it was his company that really turned the card game into a hit fad. Even two years after his coming to fame, Seto was still as eager as ever to further expand the game's reach. It was his dream to blanket Earth with his technology and vision of impressive duel monster reproduction. Thus far, he had succeeded.

"Hey guys," a soft spoken voice called to the brothers. Large, purple eyes and a hairdo that lacked any real rime or reason bobbed from the crowd. "Thanks for coming." Before he could utter another word, Seto was turning his back and snorting. "Oh yeah, as promised, I brought your invitation. Apparently," his eyes glanced down at the white envelope in his hands, "Andy Churchman didn't know you graduated."

"Tch, people need to do their homework." Snatching the letter from Yugi's hand, his eyes scanned over the letter and soaked up all its sweet content. "Heh," he passed the letter onto Mokuba.

"Oh wow! That will be exciting. I can't wait to go back to the States! I've always wanted to go to New York City too!"

"Uhh," Seto hated to be the bearer of bad news for his brother, but he didn't have a choice. It was time to nip that bud right in the butt before things got harder. "You do realize you're a camp counselor in training during the weeks of this tournament."

Instantly crushed, Mokuba kicked the grass beneath his white sneakers. "I thought that date looked familiar..." He wasn't overly fond of the idea that popped in his head, but he didn't have a choice. He didn't want to ruin what could bring Seto back to fame. "Seto, when you go, make sure to take pictures."

"Whoa, Mokuba, are you really okay with that? You and Rich Boy go everywhere together." Joey Wheeler, the rowdy blonde of the group popped forward and gazed over Seto. "Yeah, I don't see Kaiba here saying it's okay."

"Hey, I'm old enough! I'm almost 16." Pouting his lower lip some, he turned away from the group before breaking into a laugh. "But you really should go, Seto. You really haven't been to the States! It could be fun. Maybe you can work in some business meeting while there too?"

It was actually a brilliant idea and one that would make the trip worthwhile. Of course, the second he spied the small script that read 'travel at your own expense' his face went blank. Of course Yugi and his friends were holding onto this with the hope of leveraging Kaiba (Seto) into covering their travel expenses.

"You should all travel together!" Before Kaiba could even stop his brother from speaking the next sentence, Kaiba grit his teeth. The undesired was coming. "He can even pay for your expenses. He could write it off as a company trip and cover everything from flights to hotel to food!" Whirling around, he gave his brother two big thumbs up. "It can be his graduation gift to all of you!"

"Right," Kaiba muttered with the sound of utter annoyance in his voice. This what not what he wanted and there was no way he could take back Mokuba's promise. At least not without upsetting his brother and having Wheeler call him out on being a cheapskate. Or worse, a liar.

"Kaiba," Yugi's friendly gaze rose up to meet Kaiba's cold, blue-eyed stare, "you don't have to if you don't want. We und-"

"It's already been said and done. I'll take care of things. Just don't go overboard with your bags. I'll pay for one but any extras fall on you." As he spat out his words, his eyes fell on Tristan, Joey, and Tea. He had little faith in those three when it came to making his life easy. Joey alone would probably bring a car's worth of luggage with him to New York just to get under his skin.

"Make sure you get him to take pictures!" Mokuba piped up again.

"Don't worry, we'll take a lot. Each of us can snap some pics." Tea leaned forward to pat Mokuba lightly.

"Well guys, we should probably get some rest and pack. If we want to make it, we need to leave by no later than Tuesday. We have two days to get ready and fly out." Yugi was doing his best to keep the group on task. He also sensed Kaiba's angst and wanted nothing more than to get out of a potentially nasty confrontation. Last time Kaiba and Joey got into a fight, Yugi walked away with a black eye; it just wasn't fun.

"I'll need your full names, addresses, and birth dates." Kaiba pulled out his tablet and awaited the information he requested.

"Uh no thanks. I don't need you stealing my identity," Joey snickered.

"Well then I guess you'll buy your own ticket." It was pretty obvious that he was waiting to say that from the way it just rolled right off his tongue.

"Uh, I take it back! I take it back!"

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There was something very unflattering about the whole flight. Perhaps it was the lack of space. Maybe it had everything to do with sitting beside a snotty kid who cheated when playing Duel Monsters. Or maybe it was the fact that Joey was snoring behind him for half of the flight. Ah yes, the joys of booking last minute flights - slim pickings with no ability to relocate! It looked as if he would have to stomach this public flight for hours longer before he would receive release from this hellish ride. To help him pass the time, Kaiba decided he would pull out the information packet that was provided to all invited duelists. After all, it's not like the other members of his travel party would do so for Yugi was too busy being squished between two insanely large individuals, Tea was busy discussing fashion with this model she was seated besides, and Tristan seemed to mimic Joey in sleeping the whole way. Why did he have to bring Tea and Tristan anyway? It's not like they were duelists. Just wasted time and space! And expenses...

"Whoa," the kid beside him leaned over to look at the magazine in Kaiba's lap. The squeaky voice called him back to reality. Rolling his eyes off the seat in front of him, Kaiba cocked a brow at the little strawberry blonde beside him. What was he? Ten? Maybe eleven? Cute kid but plainly rude and a damn cheat. Perhaps if he had better parents... no, he wouldn't go there. He turned out just fine being an orphan. To blame the parents was just wrong. Everything really fell on the individual and their drive to succeed, or at least that was Kaiba's viewpoint on the very touchy situation.

"Wait, you're an actual duelist?" The kid tugged lightly at Kaiba's slim-fitting black vest. As his gaze soften from a cold, fierce stare to a softer, more stern face of disapproval for touching him, the kid gulped. "Sorry, I just got excited, mister."

"It's Kaiba. I'm not that old, kid." Even though his voice was rough as always, there was a subtle hint of passion in his words.

"Kaiba... Kaiba... Kaiba?! Dude, that's so cool! No wonder you were so good that I had to cheat."

Letting his pride get the best of him, Kaiba tightened his jaw and straightened out his back. He was famous for his egotistical posture. To gloat in this moment was to use time wisely, he told himself mentally. Granted, he didn't want to look overly cocky for that might alert someone to his status and name, and he just didn't need that kind of attention. Not now at least. So to get the conversation rolling again, he said not a word and just moved his eyes on the text before him.

"Oreo-tation? What's that?"

"Orientation. It's when you meet people and learn about the program, event, or location." Although he was usually one nasty guy, Kaiba had always had a soft spot for kids, even cheating, booger-breath kids. And being a self-proclaimed genius, Kaiba couldn't let the kid walk away calling it 'Oreo-tation.'

"Oh, interesting. So who's that? Your girlfriend?" His grubby fingers stretched toward a photograph that was tucked neatly in the spine of the magazine. "She's really pretty."

Absolutely refusing to let the kid with fingers coated in cheese puffs smear up the picture, Kaiba shifted it away from the boy and brought the image up to his face. The woman in the photograph was indeed pretty, but certainly not his girlfriend. To even think about such a thing caused his head to hurt. He didn't have time for relationships, especially of the romantic nature. There was no way he could even think about something so frivolous either.

Still, he couldn't help but soak her up. She had azure eyes, blonde hair, and a welcoming smile. Flipping the image over, he saw it was her contact card. It spelled out her name Jennifer "Jenn" Gamble. The other information on the card read: "20 year old all-American girl from Smalltown, USA. Raised on a farm but with her eyes set on the city, she's moved to the Boston upon graduating high school to work for the Northeast Coast Duelist Society as their Intern Event Coordinator. Currently a first year Orientation Assistant, famous for giggling uncontrollably and not having an inside voice."

Flipping the image over again, Kaiba burned her image into his mind. _Jenn Gamble. _

From looks alone, he could tell she would be a cheeky fellow. Probably the type to get in faces and have overly dramatic gestures. The foot that kicked the back of his chair sent a terrible image through his mind. More than anything he wanted this "Jenn" to be anything other than a female carbon copy of Joey Loser Wheeler.

No, there was no way she would be anything different. She would be the new Jenny Wheeler. And with an ache in his neck, he let out a disgruntled sigh. He really hated these type of overly happy and animated people. Kaiba didn't even know her and he was already judging her. Even loathing her to some extent.

The kid beside him must have taken the hint and decided to leave Kaiba to his mind. It was just what he needed to - to be locked within his thoughts, memories, and judgmental spasms. Yes, this trip was already causing a migraine. Why had he said yes? Was it because he wanted to spawn a Kaiba Land USA 2.0? Possibly? Or maybe it was high-time he make that Duelist Academy he always wanted. Where better to start than the land of the free and the home of the brave? With a meek sigh, he folded his arms over his chest to frown. This truly sucked. What the hell was Mokuba thinking when he forced Seto into this position.

As darkness crept upon them, it became light's down time and Kaiba found himself listening to his tablet that was loaded with clips from last year's NYC Duelist Tournament. He would listen to the tape until slumber overcame him. And, when it did finally come, it couldn't have been more perfect. The noise-canceling headphones helped too!

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To state that he was stiff, sleep deprived, and ready to murder Joey was an understatement. As they got off the plane, the bubbly blonde immediately started cracking his jokes at Kaiba who was lucky to get about 4 hours of interrupted sleep. The bags painted black beneath his eyes being the dead giveaway to his further souring mood and utter dislike for nonsense at the moment.

"Jeez Joey, keep this up and he'll ship us all back. Give the guy some space. He did have to sit in front of you." Tristan knuckled the occasionally handicapped Joey in the noggin. It was a fleeting gesture for he noticed Kaiba's grimace of disapproval. There was really no pleasing that guy. "Okay, well now where do we go?"

Keeping his jaw clenched, Kaiba tilted his head toward a man with a sign that read 'S. Kaiba.' It was almost as if he were bored for the next thing that gang knew, Kaiba was walking away from them and slipping past the two men stationed to get them. The shorter one with thick black hair stepped forward and stepped past Yugi and his friends. "Curt, you escort our guests to the car. I'll get their bags." A simple nod sealed the deal and set Joey into a spree of delight. "Whoa, no wonder Rich Boy doesn't have to do anything. Money really can buy anything! Sign me up for CEO, please!"

Giggling ever so slightly, Tea dropped a hand on her hip. "You wouldn't last three days. I hate to say it but Kaiba would smoke any of us in that business stuff."

"It's all good, Yug smokes him in dueling." Flashing a smile and a thumb's up, Joey skipped along after Curt and Kaiba. "Let's not get lost. I could see Rich Boy ditching u-u-u-u..." his jaw fell on the floor. Eyes rolling up, he met the uncanny looming form of the NYC skyscrapers. Sure, he had seen them before, but the ones in Japan were nothing compared to these. These were polished with perfection and solid glass. The reflective surfaces cast images all across the surface and illuminated the area.

While keeping his head glued to everything around him, Joey hadn't noticed his emanate proximity to Kaiba. That was until the already freakishly tall man's form was caught in the integrate design of the building, which skewed him to an disproportionately tall and menacing form.

"YIKES!" he side-stepped with his arms flailing. "We need to get you a bell or something. You just sneak up on people out of nowhere!"

Kaiba would have rattled something off, but he was honestly too tired to even try at this point. He really just wanted to get to their hotel and spend the rest of the day catching up on sleep or lounging until the evening reception.

"S. Kaiba and crew, if you would please enter the limo, I'll take you to your destination." Curt flagged the crew down and directed them into the large, white vehicle.

"Yug, we need to hang out with Kaiba more often. We get to ride in fancy cars!"

"There's nothing fancy about this. You'll see what I mean when I get to pick up my car," Kaiba's voice was eerie in a taunting, jeering sense.

With everyone in the limo now, they headed off to their hotel. It was a painfully long drive do to that wonderful rush-hour lunch traffic issue. Between the near-accidents and the ceaseless red lights, the gang was really starting to miss home. Or maybe just walking. Heck, it probably would have been easier to walk 10 miles rather than suffer in a car for over an hour.

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/End chapter one/ Thanks for reading and I hope you stick around!


	2. Chapter 2

The day they arrived was a pretty easy start to their month-long invitation. They arrived in the afternoon and spent most of their time picking rooms, unpacking, and becoming familiar with the local area. Their pale tan condo was placed neatly beside a few other condos, each of the same color for coordination purposes. Strewn between the five houses that took on a hexagon placement was a large pond and beautiful wild cherry trees whose leaves were still pink with bliss. Benches were places haphazardly across the courtyard that faced each of the houses. It was to be a cozy, warm, and welcoming experience. Thus far, the American hosts were doing a superb job keeping everyone's jaws ajar at the sheer beauty of the area.

The building the "Chosen Ones of Japan" were assigned contained five large rooms, each fully adorned with living materials. The rooms each held their own unique features, such as color or decor. Kaiba opted for the powder blue room with the white accents. It was clean, simple, and surprisingly bright - which went against his usual dark office. His room came equipped with a queen bed that had a simple abstract pattern to add a touch of navy flair. The unstained wooden frames and floor boards carefully outlined the room, and the large navy rug utilized the floor space neatly. Two dressers and one nightstand also took up space in the room. A large, walk-in closest was perfect for stowing away his jackets, which he promptly went to. In relatively no time, all his packed goods were placed away in their respective locations, whether that be shelves or closet depended on the exact item.

Taking a seat on his bed, the brunette pulled out his orientation packet again. The sheet highlighted today. They were to walk to dinner around 4PM and arrange for dinner.

"Arrange for dinner?" Kaiba's brows furrowed. Were they to dress up? What did American even where? Shifting from his bed to the window, he peered outside to see the other Asian invitees outside scoping out the area. They weren't dressed in unison. Did that mean they could wear whatever they wanted?

Eyes on his clock, Kaiba made a mental note of the time. He had about an hour to get ready. Since he still had bags under his eyes (ah, the joys of mirrors!), it would be wise to freshen up with a slower. Hands scooping up the blue towel with the white stripe, he moved from his room into the adjacent room - the bathroom.

The warmth that came with the hot shower instantly sent a chill down his spine. How long had it been since he last indulged in the act of wasting water? Far too long; his showers were using brisk and cold. With ample time to kill, Kaiba mused it would be okay to relax his body with the soothing rain-like water of the shower. It was almost too soothing to the point where his eyes fought to stay open. Hand propping against the wall, the wet brunette struggled to keep upright. Tonight was going to be a long night, he said inwardly. It didn't sound fun but he couldn't just bail on their first meeting. And yet, the idea of just standing in this shower for years on end toyed with his willpower. Should he go?

As the steam clogged his mind, a vision came to him. Her, Jenn Gamble. He knew not what it was, but something from deep within told him that this woman was going to be a pain. Yes, he knew she was more Joey than he wanted, but this feeling was deeper. There was something more. The fact that she was seeping into his mind, popping up in his dreams, made him all the more wary.

Was there magic at foot here?

Scoffing at his own idiocy, the water stopped as per his desire. Hand still on the knobs, his tainted glance fell from the faucet to the mirror that stood beyond the curtain that once protected him from the 'nipplely' air that lingered outside his steamy shower. His eyes met his eyes and he just stared.

Was this really wise? Should he have come?

Dabbing his body with the dry towel, he continued to question what he was doing there. Mokuba was back in Japan. Should he have left him? Why did he come with Yugi and his friends? In no time, he was dry and wandering back to his room to change. It might have been wiser for him to bring clothes into the bathroom, but that minor detail slipped his mind this go around. Of course, it was a mistake he wouldn't make again for he didn't need to deal with gawking eyes.

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WIP~!


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